Four hundred years ago, we had to retreat into the forest that surrounded our previous home. The twenty-seven individuals of the new generation of people that could see us were trying to destroy us because they were afraid of what our powers could do. We nicknamed them Elda. I’ll bet you’re wondering who “we” are. We are a group of mythical creatures. We are Anaba the Saber wolf, Fuoco the Phoenix, Bast the shape shifting cat, Rayna the Scorpio and Volano the flying squirrel. We are all the best of friends, and we met each other when the Elda started an attempt to kill us.

Remember the time that Volano and Bast saved us from the Elda?” Asks Anaba, as she adds another log onto the camp fire.

“Yeah, you guys were really in a pickle.” Replies Bast.

Volano laughs as she glides down from a tree, landing next to Fuoco. “Yeah, you guys would have never gotten out if it weren’t for us.”


“I could have gotten out without your help”, says Anaba indignantly.

“You need to act more grateful towards Volano and Bast,” says Fuoco as she smacks Anaba on the head. Anaba exhales loudly, pouting as she pokes the fire with a nearby stick.

“Hey, where’s Rayna?” Asks Bast as she realizes that one of her friends is missing.

“She was supposed to be here an hour ago.” Volano agrees as she looks around just as Rayna walks out of the forest.
“What did I miss? Not much I hope!” exclaims Rayna as she finds a place to sit around the fire.
“We were just remembering the time that Bast and I had to rescue Anaba and Fuoco from the Elda.” Said Volano









2 Years Ago

The four friends are standing by the lake, while Volano and Bast are in a heated argument over who is the better creature.

“At least I’m not a flea covered rat!” yelled Bast.
“Well, at least I’m not an overgrown fur ball, fish-breath!” Volano shot back.

“You said what now?” Bast shot back.

“You heard me!” Volano said as she pushes Bast. Bast then shoves Volano into the lake as revenge for pushing her in the first place. As she was falling, Volano grabs Bast by the arm and pulls her down with her. As Bast came out of the water, hidden by a wall of cattails, she sees Fuoco and Anaba being drug into the forest by two men who had covered their mouths, smothering any screams that Anaba and Fuoco may have screamed.



Laughing uncontrollably, Volano came out of the lake a few minutes later. She looks around and sees that Anaba and Fuoco are nowhere to be found. Volano, oblivious to Bast’s shocked and confused expression, jumps to what she believes to be the most likely theory for her friends’ absence.

“Why did you eat them?” Volano asked Bast as she shot her a look.

“What? I didn’t eat them! You shouldn’t jump to conclusions so quickly.”

“Sorry.” Volano said, obviously dumbfounded. “Then what happened to them?”
“They were just kidnapped by two men, most likely working for the Elda. We shouldn’t be discussing this; we need to be out there looking for...!”


A shrill scream interrupted her sentence. “Them”, Bast finishes lamely, Volano and Bast share a similar look.

They both yelled simultaneously as they run into the forest, hoping to find their lost friends. As they trekked through the forest, looking for any sign of their friends, Bast finds Anaba’s necklace that she got from her grandma. It is very precious to her and she never parts with it.”

“Hey, Volano, look what I found. This is Anaba’s necklace; she would never leave it here without a reason! This must be her way of saying that they’re in trouble and need help.”
“Then what are we standing around for?” Bast says “We have to go find them!”
“Obviously, that’s what we’re doing...right...now,” explains Bast, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Wait we need a plan before we go after them! We can’t just go charging into the forest trying to save them!” says Volano, having one of her non-blond moments.
“That is actually a good idea.” compliments Bast, almost unwillingly.
“Why are you so surprised?” exclaims Volano.
“Um, never mind” says Bast.

She looks up,”Hm...I...I could blow them all up”
“But, Bast, that is not humane. Would you like to be blown up by some random people?”
“What do you mean random? They’re trying to kill us!” screams Bast
“...True...” agrees Volano “But it’s still not nice.”
“Who says we have to be nice? They took Fuoco and Anaba!”
“Were NOT going to blow them up, Bast, and that’s final!”
“Fine, I won’t blow them up.” says Bast reluctantly.
“So... how are we going to save them?”
“I think I might have an idea.” says Bast mischievously.
“Alright Volano, stick to the plan.” encourages Bast.
“Right, stick to the plan” chants Volano.
“Let’s just hurry up before we get caught,” says Bast. The two of them then head toward the camp of the Elda, which is where there friends are being held as captives.
“Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!” screamed Anaba, while she was trying to switch into her human form. When this fails, she takes to pulling and rattling her cage, in a futile effort to open it.
“Shh, calm down. Screaming is not going to solve our problems. I’m sure that Volano and Bast have realized that were gone and are on their way. We’ll be free in no time” reasoned Fuoco.

“Screaming might give them a clue to our whereabouts. They can use all of the help that they can get, considering that they are only a cat and a squirrel.”
“Be that as it may, they are the only chance of us getting out of here anytime in the near future.”






PRESENT DAY

“Wait a minute, what exactly was your plan for getting them out?” interrupted Rayna.
“Well, we didn’t really to have a plan until the last minute. We were really only thinking about their safety and getting them out before the Elda could inflict any real damage, physically or emotionally.”
“Oh, I see. Well, on that note, continue with your story.” exclaims Rayna.
PAGE 10





Back to the Story
“Now listen closely, this is very important that you listen to every word that I say. I cause a distraction while you get the guards’ keys and rescue them. No matter what you hear, or more accurately what you think you hear, don’t come back for me unless you have already rescued Fuoco and Anaba. Got it?” explains Bast like she is talking to a two- year old.
“Yep, you can count on me, Bast. I won’t let you down. Everything will go exactly as planned.”
“It better, because after tonight, I am not putting the future of our friends’ into your hands... err paws.”
“Yeah, I really don’t like the feeling of this responsibility. It makes me feel nervous.” says Volano as she visibly shudders.
“Well, I hope you won’t have to deal with any major responsibility for a long time to come.”
With those last words still lingering in the air, Bast sprints into the clearing and watches Volano anxiously, afraid of what could go wrong.
.“Hey, what are you doing, trespassing into our camp!” yells one of the guards.
Bast lets out an angry yell, and leaps toward the unaware guard.
“I guess you weren’t expecting an angry saber cat were you?’ taunts Bast as the guard comes to his senses and realizes that this is one of the “evil creatures”” that he has been trained to kill.
“I guess you weren’t expecting a trained guard you knows how to kill you?” replies the guard as he gets to his feet, taking on a fighting stance.
“Hmm... this should be fun!” yells Bast as she pounces on him, her deathly claws aimed for his face.

Volano could hear the sounds of Bast’s fight behind her, but she has strict orders not to go back for Bast until she has rescued her friends. Looking around the camp, she spots a guard who has fell asleep on duty.
“This is one shift that you should have been awake for,” chuckles Volano as she gingerly grabs the keys from his belt. She swoops off unnoticed, laughing all of the way.

.Anaba had finally lost her voice, after yelling and screaming for hours on end. She was currently mumbling under her breath and turning around in her sleep. Fuoco reasoned that she was having a nightmare, but there was nothing that she could do.
“I guess I should try to get some sleep while I still can.” whispers Fuoco as she prepares to sleep in her metal cage. She was just starting to slip away into the abyss of sleep, when she heard the unmistakable chuckling of her friend, Volano.

“Anaba, wake up! Wake up, Volano is here!” whispers Fuoco urgently, while trying to shove Anaba with the tip of her wing, but the separate cages are too far apart.
“ANABA!” screams Fuoco, fed up with her friends’ deep slumber.
“What? I was trying to sleep!” snaps Anaba.
“Well, that isn’t any way to treat your friends now is it? Scolds Volano as she glides down from the ceiling, interrupting the sarcastic remark that Fuoco was sure to make...
“Volano!” they say in a sigh of relief.
Anaba, not used to being grateful, reverts back to her indignant self.
“Well, it sure took you long enough. We’ve been stuck in these cages forever!” huffs Anaba.
“Oh, don’t mind her, she’s just angry that she couldn’t rescue us.” reassures Fuoco, as she sees Volano’s face fall.
Volano, her feelings restored, quickly opens their cages with the keys that she ‘borrowed” form the guard.

While Fuoco and Anaba, stretch their legs, in this case wings and paws, Volano stands as a guard, looking for anyone who would cause harm to her recently freed friends. When they have finished stretching, Volano fills them on what happened with Bast.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Bast could be dead right now? We should have been helping her ages ago!” yells Anaba as she charges out of the tent, heading in the opposite direction of where Bast was.
“Um, Anaba, Bast is that way.” says Volano timidly.
“Right, I knew that.” snaps Anaba, as a pink flush coats her cheeks.
They three friends rush to Bast, hoping that their friend has survived the battle.

They were expecting many things, but they weren’t expecting Bast to be sitting on a log, poking the fire as if nothing happened.
“Where are all the guards?” asks Fuoco as she surveys the scene.
To answer her question, Bast simply points to a cluster of trees where at least a dozen guards lay, tied with their hands behind their back, the cloth in their mouths forcing them to stay quiet.
“Well, I got to say, I’m impressed Bast.” compliments Anaba with a look of awe on her face.
“Err, it was nothing really.” replies Bast, obviously embarrassed.
“Their pretty easy to beat once you take their weapons away from them, then they have nothing to hide behind.

The days’ events must have taken a toll on the group, because for no obvious reason, the burst into laughter that takes several minutes to subside.
“I guess it’s time to go back home. What to you guys say?” questions Fuoco.
They all nod their agreement and walk into the woods, headed for home.
Back to the present
“Wow, I can’t believe that a little squirrel and cat could rescue a Phoenix and a Saber-Wolf! You guys must have been really brave” exclaims Rayna, unaware that she is insulting Volano and Bast.
“It wasn’t really that hard, most of it was just pure luck though.” admits Bast as she sees the look of rage on Anaba’s face.
“I would have you know that I could have rescued us all by myself, but I didn’t want your trip to “save” us be for nothing, so I allowed you to rescue us!” yells Anaba, convinced that she

could still have rescued Fuoco and herself.

“You have seem to forgotten the part where you were screaming for help, making a futile effort to break free of the restraints of the cage!” snaps, Fuoco, which is rather uncommon for her.
“Sorry, I guess retelling that story made me remember what it was like to be in that powerless situation, with my future resting in THEIR hands.” explains Fuoco.
.“Uh, excuse me; we’re the ones who rescued you! Remember? You two were stuck in your pathetic little cages, helpless to get out!” exclaims Volano, looking for support from Bast.
“I think she meant their hands, as in the Elda’s hands Volano.” corrects Bast gently.
“Oh, sorry I jumped to conclusions so quickly.” apologizes Volano.
“That’s fine, but it just goes to show that no matter how big or small you are, if you set your mind to something, you can accomplish It.” says Fuoco, stating the moral of their little story.